The high-end, yacht-inspired Mercedes-Benz EQS may not only be one of the most luxurious EVs to grace the market, but also have one of the longest driving ranges.
The EQS will be the German luxury car maker’s flagship electric vehicle, and will join the EQC luxury electric SUV as part of its EQ series that was first unveiled in Australia in 2018.
In comments made during Daimler’s annual general meeting earlier in July, CEO Ola Källenius let slip a few more details about the flagship EQS which is expected to rival Tesla’s upcoming Plaid powertrain in terms of power.
Marking that the EQS will represent “a new era for Mercedes in terms of electrification,” he added that the EQS will have a driving range of more than 700km based on the European WLTP cycle, Auto News Europe reports.
We have to note that this may not mean it will actually be able to drive 700km on a single charge, as the WLTP cycle is usually a bit longer than real world driving range. Also, Mercedes-Benz would need to work on balancing power with efficiency, if the results of our EQC review, in which we saw a heavy foot chew up the battery capacity, is anything to go by.
But it does denote that Mercedes-Benz are aiming high with the EQS specifications, which was first seen as the Vision EQS concept at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
Whether it will actually beat the Tesla Model S Long Range, which gets 610km on a single charge according to the same WLTP cycle (at least for the moment), remains to be seen.
The Tesla Model S recently upped its EPA-based (and more realistic) range in the US by 20%, and it is now officially at 402 miles (646km) after Tesla made improvements to efficiency which means it should once retested according to the WLTP cycle, be sitting at around 720km.
Nevertheless, we look forward to seeing the EQS in production form and hearing more about its specifications.
According to Källenius, the EQS is unique in the Mercedes-Benz range in that it is the first to be built from the ground up with an electric drivetrain in mind.
“With the EQS, the way we think about cars is changing. It is the first fully electric luxury sedan from Mercedes-Benz based on an all electric architecture.
“This opens up entirely new possibilities – from the position of the batteries to the car’s design,” he was reported as saying by Auto News Europe.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.